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Vol. 1, March 2012
Everyday, Each Month, All Year
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Sowing The Seeds of The Future In the Fertile Soil of the Past A year in the making, continuing as a work in progress! Govan Together have spent the past 12 months exploring the reality and possibilities for a vibrant, locally led, creative, sustainable, Govan now. We have uncovered and celebrated the abundant resilience and resourcefulness that is right here. Understanding from the start that Govan is not materially wealthy we have unearthed the treasures of the richness in living that comes from a focus on people: caring, sharing and creating together.
Through grounding our work in the development of the community garden, organising ‘together’ activities big and small, calling on expert input, engaging in action learning and opportunities for skills sharing to explore learning for resourcefulness; together we have mapped out a new community of interest open to all. A community that is earth appreciating and centred around shared values of respect, empowerment, interdependence and the celebration of diversity.
Five organisations and countless people collaborated on making this project happen and that partnership was rich in learning too. When we have a dominant culture of command, control and competition, how do we get past our habits of thinking and doing in order to capitalise on becoming more than the sum of our parts? Mistakes we have of course made, and as the saying goes they are only mistakes if you don’t learn from them. We have endeavoured to acknowledge our mistakes, make amends, think about what went wrong, and learn from it so that we do things differently, better, next time. This is why the soil of the past is so fertile: it holds all the lessons of mistakes made to bring wisdom to our actions now for the future. And what of the seeds we are sowing? There is a great flourishing of ideas, not all can be claimed as the product of Govan Together, though all can be supported and encouraged by the ongoing energy generated through this coming
together. Having come to better understand what is resilient about this place, its people, and history, we can see where there are resources that we can use to inform and support the present and the future. Over these eight pages, and on the ‘A Resilient, Resourceful Govan’ map insert, we hope to illustrate and acknowledge the experiment, effort and effect of Govan Together. Perhaps we can inform and inspire people locally and globally to take a chance on each other and work together to make the world a better place. Here’s to low carbon thriving: high fulfilment, locally sourced, living!
Govan Together was initiated by the Govan Folk University ☞ govanfolkuniversity.org and funded by the Climate Challenge Fund, Project 1349 ☞ ccf. keepscotlandbeautiful.org Watch our film about this yearlong adventure ☞ vimeo.com/40578934
The Circle of Giving and Receiving I think that everyone has something to give: even people who think they have nothing for whatever reason ie lack of finances, ill health, they always do. At the same time people nearly always need something. It may be a practical thing or something else. And remember the saying “one mans trash is another man’s treasure!” While Alison was helping out with the dinner nights, thinking about her work, about life in general, and the talks at the community garden about improving things in Govan, the importance of completing the circle of giving and receiving was on her mind. This does not need to be about
an exchange of money, in fact preferably not. We all have so many things lying around that we don’t use but that could make a massive difference to a person that might need that particular thing. One evening without having really thought about doing anything she decided to put pieces of paper on the tables and marked one side “needs” and the other “I can offer”. She stood up and gave a short introduction about it. A lot of happy chattering followed and the results quite literally brought tears to her eyes. “I was quite staggered by the generosity of what people were offering in terms of items,
friendship, help with household chores, decorating etc.” The needs box was what really got her, “Someone who was homeless needed somewhere to stay, someone needed hugs, which I helped out with. Someone needed help to improve their English speaking. All sorts of things: football boots, a waterproof jacket etc.” People’s response to this simple invitation for sharing and caring really blew her away. It seemed to have the same effect on the other participants. This is something she would really love to take forward and develop.
Telling a new story, a better story, your story, our story There are many narratives of Govan out in the world. People know us variously as the home of Rab C Nesbiltt, an exploitable example of post-industrial decline and urban decay. Drugs, poverty, and crime, are synonymous with the sound of the place name. There is another narrative which is the “macho”, ship building, heroic “Clydebuilt” home of the pride of the Clyde (or Clutha as our river is known in older tongues); and yet another that reminds us of the ancient “Kingdom of Strathclyde”, the emergence of Christianity here and the Viking hogback stones. The truth about Govan of course is all of these things and much more. Our place is enriched by the constant influx of people from all over
the world – a process that began in prehistoric times and continues to this day with colourful cultural contributions from Africa, Asia and mainland Europe. Usually our new neighbours arrive from places in turmoil but they have always brought with them skills, talents and abilities from crafts people working with stone, wood and metal, bricks and mortar, to artists, musicians, community activists and spiritual leaders. This eclectic mix of peoples have left their legacy; in the built environment, in the stories, myths and legends that they have forged in their thousands; and have given us the rich, vibrant and resourceful community that we have uncovered during this year of Govan Together. Yes, there are problems – there is poverty and suffering. But
there also remains a strong spirit of community, togetherness and caring that is quite remarkable in the 21st Century. In 2012, there is an emerging new narrative of Govan that is of a vibrant, resilient, resourceful community: a liveable place where people make their own opportunities and are leading the way into the future.
Bus Tour ‘Bringing Govan Together’ 30 July 2011 Photo ☞ fablevisionstudios.co.uk Cartoon ☞ polyp.org.uk Content gathered with the help of local volunteers and all Govan Together partners. We hope our grammar and spelling is correct and that we’ve not misquoted, miss represented or missed anyone out. Enjoy!